In those final moments before Blu had caught Jewel after hurling himself out of the crashing plane, he had saw the fear in the eyes of the one he had loved. As if out of sheer desperation Blu 'willed' himself to catch Jewel and hold her as if he'd throw away everything just for a few last seconds to be with her.

But something was wrong. Blu never met his lover and instead he plunged right past her and into the dark abyss of the water. The veil of shadows sent out tendrils that grabbed him and pulled him deeper in the depths. Tossing and flailing he futilely fought against the barren expanse in the dark recess of his mind.

Then reality came and smacked him back to truth. Light enveloped him as he woke up panting. He quickly shot a glance at his surroundings and realized he was still safe in the aviary. To his left lay his crush, the bird of his dreams, sound asleep. Glad it was just a dream Blu let out a giant sigh as he fell on his back and studied his partner, recalling the ordeal he just experienced.

Blu sat still, captivated by her beauty. Jewel, the bird he loved, the bird he would die for, peacefully sleeping next to him. He loved her and his love was reciprocated just the same. Blu's act in saving Jewel was out of love, not courage. Nothing was courageous about it, he gave away his life to forever be with Jewel no matter how much time they had...

And he did this out of sheer love. True love by every meaning of the definition, and it only took a span of less than 24 hours for him to achieve this love. That's why it was reciprocated. Jewel had understood this fully from the exact moment they met and their bodies touched in mid fall.

-(Blu)-

"Morning Blu." Jewel perked up. "Mhm, Good Morning!" I acknowledged, Standing straight up to greet her.

It had been a rough 12 hours of sleep since the day that changed my life. Eager to see what life had in store, I walked out to the edge of the small hollow to glance outside and gather my thoughts. We were extremely exhausted from the previous day's endeavors. Almost dieing and all.

Turning my full attention to her, "Hows the wing?" I inquired, fearing that she might not be able for fly for some time.

"Its still extremely sore, I can't wait to get this cast off," she gestured to her left wing. "Anyways, it just gives us time to plan out what's next for us." She let out a bright smile waiting for my reaction.

Strange how I didn't even notice the cast, her eyes and natural radiance always drew my full attention. But then what she said actually sank in.

"Plans?" I chirped nervously, "Wh-what kinda plans?" feeling heat surge to my cheeks. She couldn't of been hinting at children already. I mean, when I can count the number of days we've known each other with one talon, the term 'rushing' was an understatement!

Letting off a simple laugh that melted my heart, "Oh nothing Blu, we'll get to that." Shooting me a innocent look she added, "First things first though, let's try and find some food." I was still unsure, but brushed the comment off the second I realized how hungry I was.

Noticing both of our stomachs, we set out to find something to satisfy our needs. Jewel noticeably staying closer to me (due to her still not trusting humans) as we progressed out of our enclosure into the treatment room for some nourishment. We met up with Tulio who was on his way to check up on us, plate in hand.

Beaming brightly at us, he lowered the plate of regular bird seed to which me and Jewel just looked at each other before giving him a questionable look. Shrugging his arms above his head Tulio noticed our gazes and exclaimed "What? It's all we've got! plus it's healthy for you." he went on, trailing off, as he turned away to tackle his next chore.

"Well, it can't be that bad. I'll try it first!" I said trying to impress Jewel. Diving head first, I started gouging away at the food bowl before a bitter taste filled my mouth and forced me cough so hard I nearly convulsed. While still edible the food was by far the worst thing imaginable, and I wondered who could have made such an abomination.

Laughing Jewel leaned in and asked "Haha, not that bad huh?"

"Well it could be worse.." but the truth was, it probably couldn't have been.

After forcing down what little we could to pacify what hunger we had we returned to our domain.

"What did you mean earlier?" I worked up the courage to ask finally.

"About what?" Jewel asked as she perched down to relax her wing. "A-about these 'plans' y-you mentioned" I asked shyly. I know we are kinda forced to be together, but what does that exactly entail?

"Well, I was thinking.." Jewel said, obviously hinting at something but I didn't pick up on it.

"Thinking about what?" I asked fearing for what she might say

She just rolled her eyes and continued,"About returning to the jungle, to live out our lives"

Just the mere thought of the jungle sent shivers down my spine. It was probably the equivalent of what Jewel experiences in a place like this. It would be me out of my natural habitat - civilization - plus I didn't even know the first thing to surviving in the real world. I mean such things as food and shelter! Where was i going to get my food? Cereal boxes just don't grow on trees!

Seeing the paleness in my expression she scooted closer in attempt to comfort me, which only made me insecure. "What's wrong Blu?" she asked trying to decipher what message i was sending out.

"N-nothing, nothing! Everything's perfect. It's just, I guess i haven't thought about that ye-" she cut me off with a kiss. Sheer bliss shot through me as my heart picked up the pace. Reopening my eyes from where they closed in shock at her gesture I stared deep into her eyes, captivated. Still not fully understanding her reasoning behind the sudden passion, I repositioned my footing.

Smiling, "Blu everything will be okay, we are ma- Love birds after all!" she reassured me. I returned her smile, half embarrassed and still unsure, and sat gazing into her deep sapphire eyes.

-(3rd Person)-

After of what felt like an eternity of their own company, not that they minded at all, the couple finally decided to take action and make something of the day.

Hatching a clever idea for some change in scenery, Blu started,"Hey Jewel, mind taking me to where you were trying to break out," remembering their first meeting in the very room they sat in.

"Sure, but i don't know why it matters at this point."

You'll see very soon, but I am even starting to get tired of this room. Blu thought to himself.

As they approached the ventilation duct Blu readied himself up and began to tackle the small obstacle forcing his weight down and he pushed up, successfully widening the gap. After observing his handiwork he gestured forward, "After you," he said with a smile.

"Oh no, no, you first," Jewel said deferring to Blu "Oh please, I insist," Blu politely mustered, the both of them shrugged at the same time and bumped heads.

"We have gotta stop doing that," Jewel said almost laughing ecstatically.

"Then might I be the gentleman? Ladies first," Blu said proudly as he bowed.

Navigating through the ventilation shaft took some time. The vent was a convoluted maze that lead to each room, but after a short while the couple found themselves on the roof, admiring the beauty of Rio.

After a short while the couple heard a familiar voice "Hey Blu!" the couple turned to see their favorite little canary Nico accompanied by his buddy Pedro

"How you two Lovebirds been?" Nico asked flashing them suggestive looks

"Yea! We didn't realize we left you two back after our charge of FREEDOM!" Pedro shouted pumping his little wing in the air.

After explaining the full story, blushing on the part where they kissed, Blu managed to work through their whole ordeal up until that point.

"Sounds like quite the thrill ride!" Nico said leaning up to Blu. "And who knew all it would take was a kiss to get out little Love hawk off the ground."

"So what brings you two to this part of town?" Jewel asked as she exchanged looks with the three male birds.

"We were just on our way to take-it-up a notch," Pedro said elevating himself higher with each emphasized word. "Oh yea," Nico said pointing in agreement. "So are you in?" he asked with the happiest grin his small face could possibly produce.

"W-well uh, you see, Jewel has an injury as you know, so uh, mayb-," "Im fine! Of course we will go, Blu will carry me there," Jewel interjected as she shot an interesting glance towards Blu.

"Great you two! Let's go!" Nico shouted as he took to the sky. Carefully, Blu picked Jewel off the ground, trying his best not to further hurt her wing, and in much similar manner to how he carried her the first time, followed the two birds to the night club.

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